
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN- TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Due to the rise in global urbanization and motorization, pedestrian injuries continue to be a major public-health problem worldwide. Every year over 1.2 million people die and 20 to 50 million people are injured in motor-vehicle crashes around the world, and pedestrians account for more than a third of them (WHO 2009). The proportion of pedestrians among road-traffic fatalities varies significantly in different countries (Figure 1), ranging from more than half in Africa to 15% or less in North America or Europe (Naci et al. 2009).